TRP: Goro and Roddy (Research)
Word Count: 2698 '''Muse: '''at 5:54 PM Castle library, day 192/Jan 26. Coming back to the castle after a few days in a tiny farmhouse was a bit- odd. Suddenly the castle was feeling a lot bigger. Instead of tripping over everyone if he turned around too fast, Roddy had to go searching. In this case, for Goro. It had taken a bit of looking but Roddy found Goro eventually. In the library, pouring over some books. He lingered for a minute, shifting restlessly. What even was Roddy wanting to talk about. He wasn't sure. Last time they'd talked about this there'd been a fight and this time Hansel wasn't around to break it up and maybe it would be better to just- not. But then again... how were things supposed to get better if Roddy didn't try? Even just trying meant something. Hansel and Grandma both agreed. So Roddy reached out and rapped against the shelves. "Hey uh, hey?" he called. '''Lina: '''at 5:56 PM Goro glanced up from his book. Kid looked weird. He wanted something. "Yeah?" '''Muse: '''at 5:56 PM "You busy?" Roddy winced a little. Course he was busy. There was books everywhere. Why would he not be busy. '''Lina: '''at 6:00 PM "Nah." Goro shut the book. It was fucking useless, just like the others. "What do you need?" '''Muse: '''at 6:03 PM "Um. Wanted to talk to you." Roddy came in, easing down across from Goro. How to- bring this up. He had no idea. "Hey so what are you doing anyway?" he asked instead, trying to get a better look at the book he'd been reading. '''Lina: '''at 6:07 PM "Eh. You know that bit about how Amren got orders from the Sanguine Queen? He said that when he spoke to her, through the pseudodragon, it sounded like a bunch of voices talking at once. That's been driving me nuts. Never heard of anything like it, can't figure out what it means. Was hoping to get some more information, but--psh." He gave the book a shove. "Can't find a thing." '''Muse: '''at 6:12 PM "That's freakish," Roddy blurted. "How does- that even work? Is that even- possible? Well course it is it happened but." Roddy was starting to wonder just what they'd gotten themselves into. '''Lina: '''at 6:15 PM "Well--I mean--it's coming from Amren, but yeah, actually, I think he was telling the truth on this one. And I got no clue. Neither does Ombre." He grinned. "Guess it means I'm gonna have to go take a look for myself." '''Muse: '''at 6:18 PM Roddy eyed Goro suspiciously. "If you do something dumb trying to figure it out I'm telling Dad." '''Lina: '''at 6:19 PM "'Course you will. You're a snitch." He said it with a trace of affection, somehow. '''Muse: '''at 6:22 PM "Yeah well. You need to be snitched on," Roddy grumbled. Not all that irritated, really- more just to have something to say. '''Lina: '''at 6:24 PM Goro snorted and rubbed his eyes. It was getting late. "You come over here for a reason, or just to threaten to tell Dad on me?" '''Muse: '''at 6:26 PM "Uh," Roddy sat up a little straighter, drumming his fingers on the table. "Yeah?" Well. Now he had to go put that in words. "It was uh. Well. Y'know after we left Dad, at the Sanctuary. I started thinking about stuff." Roddy shifted uncomfortably, glancing off to the side. '''Lina: '''at 6:26 PM "Yeah huh?" Ah, what the hell was this about. '''Muse: '''at 6:32 PM "Well look I don't wanna fight. Again." Well this was just making it awkward now. "I think I just realized I hadn't thought about how much you and Dad actually cared about each other and now I am thinking about it and-" And what? Roddy cut off and shrugged. "You seemed really upset?" he said tentatively. '''Lina: '''at 6:35 PM Goro locked his eyes on the table and clenched his jaw. The pain of saying goodbye was still fresh, even if he'd been doing a good job today distracting himself from it. He wasn't jumping at the chance to think about it some more. "What, d'you think I was just messing around with him for shits and grins?" '''Muse: '''at 6:35 PM Roddy was quiet a second. Well. If he was honest? "For what little thought I did put into it- yeah?" '''Lina: '''at 6:40 PM Goro snorted again. "Well, uh, okay. You got me, because I'm pretty sure I've tried to fucking say it before--I love him. I fucking love him, a lot. So yeah. I was upset. I--" He snapped his mouth shut. He was not about to tell Roddy, in graphic fucking detail, how he missed Hansel so much it felt like a gaping hole in his chest. '''Muse: '''at 6:48 PM Roddy was quiet for a moment, studying Goro. He really did seem to mean it. Roddy wanted to believe him. (but what if this was still just an act Goro was a good liar Roddy didn't read people that well what if-) It wasn't coming easy. "I miss him too," Roddy said quietly. "He's- y'know- he's really good at being- there. Cept now he's not." '''Lina: '''at 6:53 PM "Yep." Goro nodded slowly. "Yep, I know what you mean." And he tried to ignore the hot, guilty feeling that kept threatening to gnaw away at him--the one that said You asked for too much. You took, and you took, and you took, and you never gave. Wasn't helpful. Hansel wasn't planning to stay away forever, he knew that. '''Muse: '''at 7:00 PM Roddy felt stuck. On the one hand- they were talking about this. Roddy was seeing that there was a lot more than he'd considered to this- situation. On the other... he couldn't bring himself to be at peace with it. The sharp-edged thoughts kept churning at the back of his mind, cutting at what security and confidence he had built up. Roddy made a frustrated noise and folded his arms on the table, resting his head on them. "I wish this wasn't such a problem for me," he said, not looking up. "Wish I could just- believe that everything was fine." '''Lina: '''at 7:04 PM "Eh. You could try what I do." Goro waved to the stacks of books. "Find a problem to solve." '''Muse: '''at 7:04 PM Roddy peeked up at him with one eye. "Does it help?" he asked doubtfully. '''Lina: '''at 7:06 PM Goro shrugged. "Sure beats sitting around." '''Muse: '''at 7:27 PM Hm. "Maybe I'll try it then," Roddy said. Sat up again and eyed the stacks of books everywhere. Suspiciously. "Okay no promises if I'll be good at it." '''Lina: '''at 7:38 PM "I mean, this is a fucking dead end, I can tell you that much." He waved at the books again. "I gotta expand the search. Start looking elsewhere. Asking around. You're probably good at that kinda thing, right?" '''Muse: '''at 7:40 PM Roddy perked up. "Oh talking to people? Yeah! I'm good at that." Now this sounded more up his alley. "Probably nobody in Glimmerton would know much," he said, mostly thinking aloud. "Bunch of peasants and all. Could hit up Skyport though, put some feelers out there." '''Lina: '''at 10:00 PM Goro half smiled at him. "Yeah. That'd be good. Nice to know I'm not doing this alone." '''Muse: '''at 10:11 PM Roddy nodded. Yeah. He'd do that. Give him something to do other than mope. "We've been a pretty good team lately," he said. "Y'know- I go find stuff out- you figure out what to do with it. It's been nice." '''Lina: '''at 10:21 PM "Heh. Yeah." Roddy saying friendly things--this was weird. Goro was worried about fucking it up somehow. "Maybe as you learn more, you could start floating more ideas in the 'what to do' department. I'd like to hear what you think." '''Muse: '''at 10:26 PM "Oh uh." Roddy shifted a little. He wasn't so sure if he'd be good at that. Well- Goro did say 'as Roddy learned more'. "Well. Don't get your hopes up I guess? But I'll try," he said doubtfully. '''Lina: '''at 10:27 PM Goro snorted. "Who are you, me? Have some faith in yourself." '''Muse: '''at 10:34 PM What. Roddy cocked his head, studying Goro. "Okay I don't have faith in myself because I'm dumb and don't think about things- but your over here all- buried in books. Trying to work it out and stuff." '''Lina: '''at 10:39 PM "You're not dumb, you f--" You fucking idiot was what was about to come out. Hm. Goro reconsidered. "Listen, it ain't the fucking books that give me ideas for how to deal with things. I just use these for information. Background knowledge kind of shit. Anyone can do that. Nah, Roddy, where the good stuff comes in--" Goro tapped his temple. "That's all you. It's called intuition. You feel me?" '''Muse: '''at 10:43 PM Okay. This made sense. Mostly. Except one thing. "And you think I've got that intuition," Roddy said skeptically. '''Lina: '''at 10:43 PM "Everyone's got that intuition. Just a matter of knowing how to listen to it." '''Muse: '''at 10:51 PM Huh. Roddy still wasn't sure if he bought that. But what would it hurt? "Okay," he said slowly. "I guess I could give it a try." '''Lina: '''at 10:54 PM "Yeah." Goro shrugged. "I mean, I can't give you tips, or anything. I had to learn the hard way, to survive. You figure it out over time." '''Muse: '''at 11:04 PM Roddy hummed a bit in acknowledgment. So he had a new thing to work on then. Intuition. "Oh- hey," he said. Something was niggling at him. "So if- if the Queen talks with many voices..." he said slowly, trying to piece together his thoughts. "D'ya think- she might be like Diva? The- the hivemind thing." '''Lina: '''at 11:06 PM "Oh, god. Oh, god. I fucking hope not." Goro winced. '''Muse: '''at 11:09 PM "Well we killed one already?" Roddy tried. Optimism right? Yeah no he wasn't feeling it. "Reeeeally hope not either," he said. "One of those was enough," he said with a shudder. And he wasn't one that got hosted- but no he was not gonna say that particular thought aloud. '''Lina: '''at 11:11 PM "I mean, yeah. True. That's what I told Wyn--me and my friends killed a hivemind eldritch abomination. Or, well, my friends did. I... kinda helped during the lead-up. Anyway. Yeah, we can take this thing, whatever the fuck it is." '''Muse: '''at 11:16 PM Roddy suddenly started feeling very doubtful. He hugged himself. "Y'know when I was talking to Amren- I brought up how we were gonna take down a god and Amren said what if the Sanguine Queen was a god too and I dunno if we can fight that. Or even if she's not. We're not- we're not that powerful. What if- what if--" '''Lina: '''at 11:17 PM "Psh." Goro waved him off. "We are so that powerful. And if we're not, well, we'll figure out a way anyway. We always do." '''Muse: '''at 11:21 PM "So far," Roddy muttered. Didn't mean they couldn't fail later. Didn't mean their luck wouldn't run out. '''Lina: '''at 11:22 PM "And worse case scenario, we all die horribly. What, did you have a different end in mind?" '''Muse: '''at 11:23 PM "I didn't have any end in mind!" Roddy snapped irritably. "I don't think about that!" '''Lina: '''at 11:24 PM "Oh. No? Jeez. Uh." Goro glanced around the room, drumming his fingers on the table. "Hey, uh. You should go find Ombre. I bet she'd be up for a... calming chat." '''Muse: '''at 11:29 PM "I'm fine." (Fine was not snapping at your teammates, Roddy.) He hid his face in his arms, resting on the table. "Just having a moment," he said, calmer this time. '''Lina: '''at 11:36 PM "Yeah, uh." Goro kept tapping on the table. "Yeah, I get those too. S'alright. I get it. Shit's scary." '''Muse: '''at 11:37 PM Roddy nodded, not ready to look up yet. "Want everyone to be okay," he mumbled. '''Lina: '''at 11:40 PM "Yup." Goro sighed. "You and me both, bud." '''Muse: '''at 11:41 PM Roddy stayed quiet a moment longer before sitting back up. "Sorry," he said. "M'okay now." '''Lina: '''at 11:42 PM "That's fine. Take your time." And he thought, Hansel would be proud, but he didn't say it. Maybe he'd tell Hansel about it sometime, though. '''Muse: '''at 1:47 PM "Should let you get back to- whatever it was," Roddy said. "Uh. Good luck." '''Lina: '''at 1:53 PM Goro nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Roddy. Take care of yourself." '''Muse: '''at 1:58 PM END Title: Research Summary: Roddy tries to understand Hansel and Goro's relationship a bit better. Goro helps. Roddy decides to help try to find out more about the Sanguine Queen. Category:Text Roleplay